Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-05-12

! the Colonel of the 23i Iowa-lf the writer's
memory serves him well-received mortal
| wound. He was lying on his back uncon-
cious and. deadly pale, and upon his brow
| was the Granny sweat of death. Towards
| night stop was made, and the writer with
| his comrades slept near the front gate of
farm house; near by lay the dead body of a
| Confederate soldier who fell in a skirmish
earlier in the day. His body lay there all
| night. Next morning the march was again
resumed. The whole line OF the route, par
ticularly that of the day previous, was
| covered at the roadside by the guns, KNAPP
sacks, canteens, broken wagons and extra
| garments of the Confederates. These were
especially Numerous between the Cham
| pion's Hill battle ground and Edwards
Station.
| Pretty early on the morning of May is
the bluffs of Black river were reached and
| the remains of the burned railroad bridge
came in sight.
| A little later the writer's regiment was
found inside of the Confederate works Of
| the day previous. The writer soon had
from his comrades, who had been partici-
| pants in the baltic of Black River Bridge,
| full account of the whole affair.
| 1t was almost o bloodlesS victory. A
| bayou circles around to the east from
| Black river at the railroad bridge, forming
a sort of horseshoe, one-half to three
| quarters OF a mile in extent; just within this
the Confederates, with cotton bales from
| the neighborlng plantation, had extempor-
| lied breastworks. These were well manned,
and at convenient intervals cannon were
| planted. Upon the hills just west of the
river the Confe&erates were in force.
| Lawler, with his brigade, charged the left
| flank of the rebel line, when the whole of
| the enemy either surrendered or sought
safety in fig
| Seventeen hundred prisoners were taken,
many OF whom, when the charge was first
made, became panic-stricken, tore out lit
| tie punches of cotton from the bales in the
breastworks and hoisted these upon the
| points Of their bayonets in token Of sur
| render
| The writer spent some time in visiting
the works lately occupied by the Confeder
! ates; they seemed strong, and the whole
| position was very similar to that occupied
| by the Federals eighteen months later at
| Franklin, Tenn, where the furious charges
Of Hood s forces were made unsuccessfully
and with such terrible loss, upon Schoield,
the Union Commander.
| Having lost, since the first day Of May,
| 1862 the battles of Port Gibson, Raymond,
Bridge, all in the vicinity of Vicksburg,
the Confederates on the 18th of the same
month retired within the works of that
stronghold.
| AS soon as the position at Black river
was lost, the bridge at that point was
| burned. The pioneer corps, however, fell
to work most energetically, and by ten
! o'clock OF May is, the bridge was ready
for use. Eighteen guns were captured at
| Black river. Many Of these were hand
some and finished in a most beautiful man
ner. Several had painted upon them in
| gilt letters, names of popular Confederate
| officers, but qualified with the word lady.
| Thus there was the "Lady Davis, " "Lady
Price" Lady Beauregard,' etc.
Before noon nearly the whole command
was across the Big Black and headed for
Vicksburg, ten or twelve miles distant
The way was for the most part lined with
| farm houses.
The Thirteenth Corps bore to the left
and at nightfall was within about ten
miles of the works that encircled Vicks-
burg. Orders were given to make fires
only in the ravines with which the region
was well supplied.
Early next morning the whole com
mand advanced. AS the Confederates had
so far been defeated and had in the last en-.
gagement yielded what seemed o strong